HP iPAQ 114

I have had several Ipaqs which I primarily used as a portable diary so it would sync my diary with the one on my desktop which my secretary organised. It meant that if I was out of the office I could make an appointment knowing what was already in the diary and when I get back I would just plug it in to its docking system on the desk, the diary would update and she would immediately see the appointment I had put in. It uses active sync.

Great. And the idea of having Windows functionality in a palm top was once a real advance.

But then the blackberry appeared. Same functionality as the IPAQ, but with internet access, email etc, so they surely do so much more?

Things have moved on. Mobiles phones such as the Apple iphone, and all sorts of other gismos now have the Wi-Fi, high speed mobile data connections and GPS that I used to buy the IPAQ for increasingly being thrown in as standard.

So I can't really see why there is even a market for the latest phone-free iPAQ - the 114 Classic Handheld, based on Windows Mobile 6.0 Classic. Can it be that there are people out there who do not want their phone and organiser on the same device?

I can't see it, but racking my brains I suppose it's possible that you might, if you want to be free from your work schedule and email at certain times you could have an IPAQ but not be contactable by the office as it doesn't have a phone(?) , May be for some people splitting your work between two devices makes life easier in some way , and it also makes sense if the handheld organiser has other benefits, such as a fast processor, a good quality screen and features the iphone doesn't have. Erm...Trying to think of any on his IPAQ

So for me the IPAQ just doesn't meet today's requirements. It is slim, at 13 mm, but it looks a bit plasticy compared to the super-chic iphone. The controls are simple and easy to use, and you can switch between using the touch keyboard and writing on the screen (oh is it just me or does this machine not read handwriting very well though?)

There is a useful screen which displays battery life, memory usage and a brightness control. I do find mine keeps switching itself on and off in my handbag though and I get somewhere and find the battery is completely dead cos it's been on all night. Grr.

Think of it as a mini laptop, rather than anything else and you'll get the idea. So if you want one of those, why not buy a mini laptop....

Eventually mine cracked across the screen (probably my fault for keeping it in my handbag, but then my phone and laptop don't do that because they fold and protect the screen). I'm off to buy an iphone, or a blackberry, or anything but another one of these. My secretary - if I were still working, would get used to it!